Dec 1, 2008 11:00 am US/Eastern
Early Voting Begins For Dade Property Appraiser
MIAMI (CBS4) ―
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Early voting is underway in Miami Dade in a runoff election between Gwen Margolis and Pedro Garcia for county property appraiser.
CBS
Early voting is underway in the runoff race between Gwen Margolis and Pedro Garcia to be the next Miami Dade Property Appraiser.
In the November 4th general election Margolis received the largest number of votes (42 percent) in a 4-way race; her closest competitor Garcia received 31 percent of the vote. But according to election officials, Miami-Dade County Home Charter Rule requires the candidate to receive 50 percent plus one vote to avoid a runoff.
Margolis sued to stop the runoff election and be declared a winner because claiming the property appraiser was considered a state office, and not subject to county ordinances.
"The County Commission continues to defy the Florida Constitution by setting an election date which is clearly unconstitutional," Margolis said in a statement released by her attorney's office.
Last week Miami Dade Circuit Judge Gisela Cardonne Ely tossed the suit stating that the office of county's appraiser is a local office under Miami-Dade County's home charter.
The Miami Dade commission set Thursday, December 16th, as the day for the run off election to decide between Margolis, a former State Senator, and Garcia who is a real estate appraiser.
Additionally, they ordered four early voting sites to open for two weeks before the race.
The locations of those four early voting sites are:
* North Miami-Dade Regional Library
* South Miami-Dade Government Center
* Downtown Miami Government Center (Stephen P. Clark Building)
* West Miami-Dade Regional Library
Click Here for hours of operation at the early voting sites.
Voters may also vote by absentee ballot. On election day, voters will cast ballots in their normal precinct location. . Polls will be open from 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. at all polling locations.
The early voting and runoff election will cost county taxpayers $3.9 million.
Up until this year, the Miami-Dade's property appraiser was an appointed position under the county's home rule charter. Voters agreed to change the office to an elected position as it is elsewhere in the state, and the winner of this year's election will be the first elected appraiser since Miami-Dade approved it's home-rule charter.
The Miami-Dade Property Appraiser is the person responsible for setting the biggest tax roll in the state.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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